Thursday, 14th November 2024

Voting ends in Indonesian elections

Voting has ended in Indonesia's presidential and legislative elections, with tens of millions of people casting votes without any widespread hitches

Wednesday, 17th April 2019

Voting has ended in Indonesia's presidential and legislative elections, with tens of millions of people casting votes without any widespread hitches.

Preliminary results based on so-called "quick counts"- votes publicly tallied at polling stations are expected to start rolling in within two hours.

President Joko Widodo, a furniture businessman who entered politics 14 years ago as a small-city mayor, is seeking re-election against former general Prabowo Subianto, whom he narrowly defeated in the last election, in 2014.

People in two districts of Jayapura, the capital of volatile Papua province in Indonesia's east, were unable to vote after ballots and ballot boxes were not delivered.

Theodorus Kosay, chairman of the province's election commission, said the problems arose because of the delays in replacing damaged ballots and lack of volunteers. The election in the two affected districts was postponed until Thursday.

Widodo and Amin are trying to project themselves as progressive yet religious, with a campaign slogan of "Advancing Indonesia".

"I am a nationalist," Widodo said on the announcement of his candidacy in August 2018. "He is a devout religious figure. We complement each other well."

Prabowo, who has been accused of human rights abuses, ran against Widodo in 2014.

Earlier, ballot papers were delivered with security escorts to remote regions of the country by plane, speedboat, canoe, and horseback.

Two speedboats were deployed as mobile polling stations for residents on the Thousand Islands chain north of Jakarta.

Wednesday will also see elections for parliamentarians taking place. Legislative elections are normally held months prior to the presidential elections but the move means voters will be confronted with a list of tough choices.

More than 10,000 people have volunteered to crowd-source election results posted at polling stations in a real-time bid to thwart attempts at fraud.

However, the opposition has already alleged voter-list irregularities that could affect millions and has vowed legal or "people power" action if its concerns are ignored.

"We are very concerned, we hope and we pray that today's election will be fair and peaceful, it will be peaceful if it's fair. Hopefully, the will of the Indonesian people, will be heard today," said Prabowo after casting his vote.

Last week, several videos appeared online apparently showing thousands of voting papers stuffed in bags at a warehouse in neighboring Malaysia, with many of them apparently already marked.

The country's election supervisory board has recommended a revote for Indonesians in Malaysia and in Australia, where several hundred registered voters were still standing in line after the polls closed there on Saturday.

A decision will be taken by the elections commission.

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